Participants: Stephen Bohr
Series Code: ASTPP
Program Code: ASTPP000002
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00:15 Alright, let's begin our second class by studying
00:19 principle number three. 00:21 It's on page four of your syllabus. 00:24 And hopefully we'll be able to cover most of this principle 00:29 in this our second class. 00:32 Principle number three is that we are suppose to remember 00:37 to study the historical and cultural background, 00:41 the grammar, the syntax, and the vocabulary 00:46 of the passage that we are considering. 00:49 In other words, there's a lot of work that goes into 00:51 studying the text itself within its context. 00:55 Now prayer can never take the place of in-depth, 01:01 careful, and exhaustive, as well as exhausting sometimes, 01:06 investigation of the text. 01:08 We must do a basic study of the text or passage 01:13 that we are dealing with. 01:16 Here are some principles to remember. 01:18 And I have twelve principles here under this third principle, 01:22 which is talking about dealing with the text itself. 01:28 First of all, Peter stated that Paul wrote some things 01:34 that are hard to understand, which the unlearned twist 01:39 to their own destruction. 01:41 This must mean that the Bible, the study of the Bible, 01:46 is not always easy. 01:49 Profound Bible study requires time and effort. 01:55 It is not enough to read the Bible, 01:57 we must search the Bible. 02:00 There is a grave danger, folks, of being hasty and superficial 02:06 in our study of Scripture. 02:08 Because we haven't carefully examined and correlated 02:12 all of the evidence that comes from the text. 02:15 Bible study is like detective work; 02:19 looking for clues here and there, and then bringing 02:23 all the evidence together to solve the case, so to speak. 02:26 Our study must be meticulous and exhaustive. 02:30 In other words, it's not enough to pray. 02:34 We must pray and then we must study. 02:37 You know, God will not do for us what we can do for ourselves. 02:42 He has given us resources to do it. 02:45 So the first principle is that we need to dedicate time 02:50 and effort in gathering all of the information. 02:52 Second, this is at the top of page 5, 02:57 we should always pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit 03:00 in our study. 03:01 The Holy Spirit inspired the Bible. 03:04 And for this reason He is the only one who can 03:06 explain what it means. 03:08 And we might have to read a text several times 03:11 before we are able to make any sense of what the text 03:15 is trying to tell us. 03:17 Third, try and discover what the text means 03:22 before you try to determine what it means to you. 03:28 Are you understanding the difference? 03:32 The Bible text has an objective inherent meaning 03:37 independently of what you think. 03:40 Correct? 03:43 Does God inject in the text a meaning that's apart from me? 03:48 Sure. 03:50 The danger of Bible study groups where people ask, 03:54 "What does this text mean to you?" 03:57 is that we will put our on spin on the text 04:00 instead of allowing the text to speak for itself. 04:05 As a result, we end up with many opinions about the text, 04:10 but not necessarily with the meaning 04:12 that the writer intended. 04:15 Sad to say, in many study groups what the people are doing 04:18 is pooling their ignorance. 04:25 How can you give your opinion about what the text means to you 04:27 if you haven't studied what the text means? 04:31 The apostle Peter assures us that no prophecy is of 04:34 any private interpretation. 04:37 In short, beware of determining what the Bible means to you 04:43 until you are sure what the text really means. 04:48 We are to extract from the Bible what it means 04:51 rather than putting into the Bible what we think it means 04:54 or what we want it to say. 04:59 Point number four, carefully examine the context. 05:05 And I'm going to give you examples of most of these 05:07 in a few moments, but I wanted to go through the 05:09 principles first. 05:11 Carefully examine the context. 05:14 That is, what comes before and after the passage 05:18 that you're studying. 05:20 Many times the context contains the key 05:24 that unlocks the meaning of the passage 05:26 that we are struggling with. 05:28 So read what comes before and what comes after. 05:31 It's vitally important. 05:33 Because some people simply isolate a text and they say that 05:36 this text means this when it doesn't mean that at all. 05:39 To give you an example, Colossians chapter 2, 05:41 "Let no one judge you about the Sabbath." 05:44 You know, Taj is an evangelist. 05:48 He faces people all the time who use that text 05:51 to say, "See," you know. 05:52 Or, nobody judge you regarding days. 05:55 So they take that one verse, but they don't look at the context, 05:59 the immediate context, as well as the broader biblical context. 06:03 So the context is critically important. 06:07 Point number five, when you read the Bible 06:11 mark the key words and write your own notes 06:16 and comments in the margins. 06:18 Any questions, any comments you have, write them in the margins. 06:23 Very important. 06:24 In this way when you are studying the passage, 06:27 many other related Bible passages will come to mind 06:31 and help you understand the specific passage 06:34 that you are studying when you read over and over again. 06:39 Number six, if you are not able to read the original languages, 06:45 read the passage in as many Bible versions as possible. 06:49 It is highly unlikely, although once in a great while 06:54 it does happen, that all Bible versions are wrong 06:58 in their translation. 07:00 And be very careful with paraphrases 07:03 and amplified versions. 07:05 Because they are not translations. 07:07 They are interpretations. 07:09 So we have to be very careful with those. 07:12 Seven, do a careful study of the meaning of key words 07:17 in the passage. 07:19 You can do this by using a Bible concordance, 07:22 such as Strong's. 07:24 So look for other passages that use the same word. 07:28 Frequently the same words are used in other 07:30 passages of the Bible. 07:33 A careful study of these words in other passages 07:36 of the Bible will help you understand much better 07:40 the passage or the verse that you are studying 07:42 or that you are considering. 07:44 Number eight, look at the marginal references 07:49 for any parallel passages to the one that you are studying. 07:54 Some of these connections are priceless. 07:56 And I'll be giving you some examples in a few moments. 08:00 Number nine, study the grammar and syntax 08:04 of the passage. 08:07 By syntax we mean, word order. 08:10 Are verb tenses important? 08:13 They most certainly are. 08:14 Extremely important. 08:16 You don't need to know the original languages to do this. 08:20 There are many resources in English which can 08:23 help you in this regard. 08:25 A good Greek English and Hebrew English lexicon 08:30 would be very valuable. 08:32 And you know, in our free time when we're not in class 08:35 I'll be glad to share with you the software that I use. 08:38 It's a software that anyone can use whether you've 08:41 studied Greek or Hebrew or not. 08:43 You can find out the meanings of words, the tenses. 08:47 You know, it's amazing. 08:49 It's an amazing software. 08:51 Number ten, learn to ask questions, 08:55 we've already covered this, of the passage 08:57 that you are studying. 08:58 A good detective is a good questioner. 09:01 Some of you might be too young to remember 09:03 Lieutenant Columbo. 09:06 He asked and asked until the guilty party 09:09 self-incriminated himself. 09:13 What does the passage say? 09:15 What does the passage not say? 09:18 Why does it say things in the way it does? 09:22 Who wrote the passage? 09:23 To whom was it written? 09:26 What special circumstances led to its writing? 09:29 From where was it written? 09:30 When was it written? 09:32 Learn to reflect on what you are reading. 09:35 It is like looking in a mirror. 09:37 You look into the mirror, and suddenly the mirror 09:39 starts looking at you. 09:41 In other words, the mirror talks back to you. 09:43 We should study the Bible, and then the Bible will study us. 09:47 Number eleven, after you have done 09:49 all your personal research... 09:51 This is very important. 09:52 Many people go to Ellen White first. 09:55 I always go to Ellen White last. 09:57 Because I enjoy the excitement of discovering it for myself. 10:01 And then I go to Ellen White to see if I missed anything. 10:04 And many times I've missed quite a bit. 10:08 After you've done all your study, go to see what 10:13 Ellen White has to say about that verse 10:15 or about that passage. 10:17 Read the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, 10:20 or other commentaries to see what those commentaries 10:23 have to say about that verse or about that passage. 10:26 Because there might be something that you missed 10:29 in your own personal study. 10:32 And finally number twelve, when you've finished your research, 10:36 put all of the pieces of information together 10:40 and reach your conclusions and see how the passage 10:43 can help your spiritual life by enhancing it, 10:46 protecting it, enriching it, and correcting it. 10:50 You must now be willing to obey what you have learned. 10:54 The purpose of the Bible study is not to increase our 10:57 intellectual knowledge. 10:59 The final goal of all Bible study is obedience. 11:02 So those are some of the principles that we need 11:07 to apply when we study the text itself. 11:10 Now let me give you a few examples 11:13 of the importance of all of these little nuances 11:16 that we find within the text. 11:19 First of all, the importance of the historical background. 11:22 Go with me to Philippians chapter 3, 11:26 Philippians chapter 3 and verses 3 through 11. 11:30 Philippians chapter 3 and verses 3 through 11. 11:33 This is the apostle Paul speaking. 11:37 And we'll have occasion to come back to this 11:40 a little later on in our class. 11:43 Here the apostle Paul says this, 11:46 "For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, 11:50 rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, 11:56 though I also might have confidence in the flesh. 11:59 If anyone else thinks he may have confidence 12:02 in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, 12:07 of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, 12:10 a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 12:14 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; 12:17 concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless." 12:23 Now would it be helpful to us to go to Paul's conversion story 12:31 in the book of Acts to understand what he's saying? 12:35 Could you understand what he's saying if you didn't understand 12:38 who Saul of Tarsus was before his conversion? 12:42 It wouldn't make any sense. 12:44 So you have to go beyond this text to another context 12:48 that will help you understand where the apostle Paul 12:50 is coming from here. 12:52 Now notice verse 7. 12:54 This is the road to Damascus experience. 12:57 "But what things were gain to me, these I have 13:01 counted loss for Christ. 13:04 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence 13:09 of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have 13:12 suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, 13:16 that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, 13:19 not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, 13:23 but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness 13:26 which is from God by faith." 13:29 Would it be helpful for us to read about who Saul was 13:33 before, and his conversion experience, to understand 13:35 what he's saying here? 13:37 Yes. 13:38 And so what I'm saying is, we need to know the historical 13:42 background to passages. 13:43 Incidentally, when the apostle Paul says, "I've lost all things 13:46 for Christ," this is one of his prison epistles. 13:49 He was in prison. 13:50 And he had lost everything for the cause of Christ. 13:54 And so does it help to know where he's writing from? 13:56 Of course. 13:57 Where he's writing from, what his frame of reference is, 14:00 what his experience has been 14:02 will help us understand the text. 14:04 You can't isolate a text from the experience of the writer. 14:08 So the historical background is extremely important. 14:12 Now what about verb tenses? 14:14 Is the verb tense important? 14:17 It most certainly is. 14:19 Let me give you an example. 14:22 Revelation chapter 11 and verses 1 and 2. 14:26 Revelation chapter 11 verses 1 and 2. 14:40 "Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. 14:44 And the angel stood, saying, 'Rise and measure the 14:47 temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there.'" 14:51 Now we're going to find something later on in the class, 14:55 and that is that many of the text that we find in Revelation, 15:00 the division of chapters, are in the wrong place. 15:04 Actually, Revelation chapter 11 verse 1 belongs with 15:09 Revelation chapter 10. 15:12 And we're going to find that Revelation 14:1-5 15:14 belongs to Revelation 13. 15:17 And we're going to find that Revelation chapter 21 verse 1 15:20 belongs to chapter 20. 15:22 In other words, the translators, because they didn't understand 15:25 the literary structure, the order of events 15:29 which we understand through the help of the spirit of prophecy, 15:33 they divided the chapters where they felt that the chapters 15:36 should be divided. 15:37 But they divided the chapters in the wrong place. 15:40 And we'll come back to that when we deal with the 15:42 literary structure of Daniel and Revelation. 15:45 There's no way we can understand Revelation 15:47 unless we understand how the book was organized. 15:50 It's impossible. 15:51 Because the book of Revelation is not in chronological order. 15:54 I mean, it jumps back and forth, back and forth, 15:57 back and forth. 15:58 And you know, if you try to read it from Revelation 1 verse 1 16:01 through Revelation chapter 22 the last verse and say, 16:04 "Okay, I want to know what's going to happen 16:05 in the course of Christian history and in the end time," 16:08 you'll be so confused you won't know what planet you're on. 16:14 But once you know the code, once you know how the book 16:16 is structured, Daniel and Revelation, 16:19 then you know exactly where each event takes place. 16:22 Now notice verse 2. 16:25 "But leave out the court which is outside the temple, 16:30 and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. 16:35 And they will tread the holy city underfoot 16:38 for forty-two months." 16:41 Now what is the issue here? 16:43 It gives the impression that the court was given to the Gentiles, 16:52 and then they trampled for 42 months. 16:56 Right? 16:57 That's the impression that you get from it. 17:00 And so some people have said that the 42 months 17:03 are future. 17:05 They're a different period than 1260 days 17:08 or time, times, and the dividing of time. 17:11 But when you realize that there's a verb tense, 17:15 and it actually says, "But leave out the court 17:21 which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, 17:24 for it has been given," really it says, 17:27 "it was given to the Gentiles to trample the city 17:32 underfoot for forty-two months." 17:34 In other words, the tense of the verb is past. 17:38 The tense of the verb is not that from this point on, 17:41 you know, this event is going to take place 17:44 during the 42 months. 17:45 No, the 42 months are past from this point. 17:50 The 42 months are not future from this point. 17:54 Now, also cases are important when we study the biblical text. 18:02 Let me give you an example here, which is very interesting. 18:04 Acts chapter 9 and verse 7. 18:07 Acts chapter 9 and verse 7. 18:14 And you know, sometimes you read things in the Bible 18:17 that appear to be a contradiction. 18:19 But they're not really a contradiction when you 18:21 take into account the biblical testimony, 18:24 the totality of the biblical testimony. 18:26 Notice Acts chapter 9 and verse 7. 18:32 It says, "And the men who journeyed with him 18:35 stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one." 18:40 So were those who were present, did they hear a voice? 18:45 Yes, they heard a voice. 18:47 Now let's go to Acts 22 verse 9, which is the parallel verse 18:52 speaking about the conversion of the apostle Paul. 18:55 Acts chapter 22 and verse 9. 19:05 "And those who were with me indeed saw the light 19:08 and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him 19:11 who spoke to me." 19:13 You see the problem? 19:18 9 verse 7 says what? 19:20 They heard. 19:23 Chapter 22 says they didn't hear. 19:26 So the Bible contradicts itself, right? 19:29 Wrong. 19:30 That's why we need... In Greek there are four cases. 19:34 There's the nominative case, there's the accusative case, 19:37 there's the genitive case, and there's the dative case. 19:41 And I'm not going to go into all of the details now. 19:45 You can get this on this software that I was mentioning. 19:48 But the fact is that when the Greek uses the word, "akouo," 19:54 that is the word, "to hear," when it uses the word, "akouo," 19:57 in the genitive case it means, "to hear without understanding." 20:04 But when it's used in the accusative case, 20:08 it means, "to hear with the understanding." 20:12 And so you would never know that if you read the text. 20:16 And so people say the Bible contradicts itself. 20:18 But depending on which case, whether it's the genitive case 20:22 or the accusative case, it means to hear with the understanding 20:27 or it means to hear without the understanding. 20:29 So there's no contraction; it's a matter of Greek grammar, 20:33 in other words. 20:34 Now we're going to skip the one on the importance of the 20:37 structure of the passage. 20:38 We're going to deal with the seventy-weeks 20:40 a little bit later on. 20:42 Let's notice the importance of the meaning of words. 20:45 Go with me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 20:49 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 20:52 You've read in Great Controversy where Ellen White states that 20:57 Satan is going to counterfeit the second coming, right? 21:01 He's going to come, you know, like Jesus is described 21:05 in Revelation chapter 1; a glorious being. 21:08 Well, I want you to notice something very interesting 21:11 here in chapter 2 and beginning with verse 1. 21:15 "Now, brethren, concerning the coming 21:17 of our Lord Jesus Christ..." 21:19 That word, "coming," there is the Greek word, "parousia." 21:25 Very important word, "parousia." 21:27 It's one of the second coming words. 21:29 And so, "Now, brethren, concerning the coming 21:31 of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 21:34 we ask you not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, 21:38 either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, 21:41 as though the day of Christ had come." 21:44 So in other words, what Paul is saying here 21:47 is that Jesus is going to have a parousia. 21:52 Jesus is going to have a coming. 21:53 He's speaking about the coming of Jesus, 21:55 the parousia of Jesus. 21:57 But now let's notice, let's go down to verse 9. 22:05 Verse 9, the very same word is used. 22:08 And let's actually read verse 8 for the context. 22:12 It says, "And then the lawless one will be revealed, 22:17 whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth 22:20 and destroy with the brightness of His coming." 22:22 And then it says, "The coming of the lawless one..." 22:26 Do you know what that word, "coming," is there? 22:28 Parousia. 22:32 The identical word that is used in verse 1 to describe 22:35 the second coming of Christ. 22:37 Are you following me? 22:39 Is it important to know it's the same word? 22:41 Of course. 22:42 So it says, "The coming of the lawless one is according to the 22:45 working of Satan, with all..." 22:46 And then there's three words, 22:48 "...signs, lying wonders, and power." 22:52 Lying wonders is one Greek word. 22:55 You know, there's only one other place in the Bible 22:57 where that combination of identical three words is used. 23:00 And that's referring to the miracles that Jesus performed. 23:05 So when you realize that verse 1 is using parousia 23:09 to describe the second coming of Christ, 23:11 and verse 9 uses the same word to speak of the parousia 23:16 or the coming of the lawless one, you know that Satan 23:20 is going to falsify the parousia. 23:22 He's going to falsify the second coming of Christ. 23:25 He's going to counterfeit the second coming of Christ. 23:28 And of course Ellen White calls this the almost 23:30 overmastering delusion. 23:34 Another example of the importance of words 23:37 is the expression, "temple of God." 23:42 You know, when people read 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, 23:46 it says that the antichrist will sit in the temple of God 23:49 showing that he is God. 23:51 Do you know how most Protestants interpret 23:54 that express, "temple of God?" 23:57 They say, "Oh, the temple of God, that is the Jewish temple 24:01 that's going to be rebuilt in the Middle East." 24:03 And there's going to be a personal nasty antichrist 24:05 who blasphemes God. 24:07 He's going to sit in that rebuilt temple. 24:10 And he's going to build a great big statue of himself; 24:14 an image. 24:15 And he's going to command everyone to worship 24:17 the image of himself. 24:18 And whoever doesn't worship will be killed. 24:21 They interpret the temple of God as a rebuilt Jewish temple 24:25 in the Middle East. 24:27 However, we need to see how the apostle Paul 24:31 uses the expression, "temple of God," 24:34 in all of his writings. 24:36 Never once does the apostle Paul use the expression, 24:40 "temple of God," to refer to a rebuilt Jewish temple. 24:44 The expression, if you study it in all of his writings, 24:48 refers to the spiritual temple, which is the church. 24:53 Go with me to Ephesians chapter 2 and you'll see this. 24:56 This is also the importance of studying the context 24:59 and studying the meanings of words and expressions. 25:01 We need to go to the totality of the testimony of Scriptures. 25:05 Notice Ephesians chapter 2 and let's see what Paul 25:10 means by the temple. 25:11 Is it the rebuilt Jewish temple in the Middle East? 25:13 Absolutely not. 25:15 It says there in verse 19, "Now, therefore, you are 25:19 no longer strangers and foreigners..." 25:21 He's writing to the Gentiles. 25:23 "...but fellow citizens with the saints and members 25:26 of the household of God, having been built," 25:29 now listen carefully, "on the foundation 25:32 of the apostles and prophets..." 25:33 What kind of foundation does the temple have? 25:36 They're not stones. They are what? 25:38 People. 25:40 Primarily the writings of people. 25:42 "...having been built on the foundation of the 25:44 apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being 25:47 the chief cornerstone..." 25:49 So is this a literal temple? 25:51 No. 25:52 Verse 21, "...in whom the whole building..." 25:56 See, the whole building. 25:58 "...being fitted together, 25:59 grows into a holy temple in the Lord..." 26:02 The identical word, temple. 26:05 "Naos," temple, that is used in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. 26:11 So it says, "...grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 26:14 in whom you also are being built together," now listen carefully, 26:18 "for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." 26:20 What is the Shekinah in the temple today? 26:23 You know, the Shekinah Glory that came into the temple, 26:26 the visible Glory in the Old Testament. 26:28 What is the Glory today? 26:30 It's the Holy Spirit. 26:32 So are the foundations literal stones? 26:35 Is the chief cornerstone a literal stone? 26:38 Are the individual stones which is us, are those real stones? 26:43 No. 26:44 Is this a physical Glory that can be seen? 26:48 No. 26:50 So when the apostle Paul says that the antichrist 26:52 is going to sit in the temple of God, 26:54 what temple is it referring to? 26:57 The antichrist is going to sit in the church. 27:03 The spiritual temple of God. 27:04 Because there's only one literal temple today, 27:06 and that's the temple in heaven. 27:10 See, the literal temple is in heaven. 27:15 Right? 27:16 And our literal High Priest is in heaven. 27:20 And the literal stones are in heaven. 27:23 And the literal Glory is in heaven. 27:28 So there's no fulfillment in the Middle East 27:31 when you take into account the meaning of the expression 27:34 and you allow Paul to interpret Paul. 27:39 Now we already took a look at an example from 27:43 Matthew 24 on the importance of the immediate context. 27:46 Is it important to know the immediate context to a passage? 27:50 Yeah, you know, sometimes we just go to verse 4 27:52 where it says, "Let no one deceive you in any way, 27:55 for false christs shall arise." 27:56 You know, we're interested in getting to the signs 27:58 of the second coming. 28:00 But we forget to read the first three verses 28:04 where it gives us the context. 28:06 And it shows that Matthew 24 has a two-fold application. 28:10 The two questions that we mentioned, 28:11 that's the context. 28:13 In other words, when are these things going to be? 28:15 "When is the temple going to be destroyed 28:16 so there's not one stone left upon another? 28:19 What will be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age, 28:22 or the end of the world?" 28:24 And then Jesus said, "Okay, let Me tell you. 28:25 I'm going to blend the two descriptions." 28:27 The context gives us the two-fold 28:30 application of Matthew 24. 28:32 And so we need to take into account the context. 28:35 We also need to take into account the broader context 28:38 of the passage. 28:39 And what I mean by a broader context is not only what 28:42 comes immediately before and after the passage, 28:44 but also what the totality of Scripture has to say 28:48 about that same theme or that same topic. 28:52 And I have here as an example Matthew 24:37-39. 28:58 You know, there's this text that says, "One will be taken 29:02 and one will be left." 29:04 And so, you know, we've reached the conclusion 29:06 that the one that is taken, he's taken to heaven, 29:08 and the one that is left is left behind. 29:11 You know, basically we argue in the Adventist Church 29:14 the same way that the Pentecostals argue, 29:17 except that they believe that the saints will be taken 29:22 seven years before the glorious coming of Christ. 29:24 But they still understand "taken" as those who are taken 29:27 to heaven, and those who are left, that are left behind. 29:31 But I believe that this translation 29:33 or this understanding does not take into account 29:36 the broader context of Scripture. 29:40 What has Jesus been talking about in verses 37 to 39 29:44 immediately before He says one will be taken 29:46 and one will be left? 29:47 He's been describing the flood. 29:51 And so what is the broader context of these verses 29:54 that are being read? 29:55 The broader context is Genesis. 29:58 Because it's referring to Genesis. 30:01 Are you understanding me? Are you following me? 30:03 So what do we have to do? 30:04 We have to go beyond the immediate context 30:07 to the broader context. 30:09 We go back to Genesis. 30:12 And there we describe who is taken and who is left. 30:15 Genesis 7:22-23. 30:18 Genesis chapter 7 verses 22 and 23. 30:23 The whole story of the flood is an amazing story. 30:26 It's a typological story in every regard. 30:29 I mean, it's the clearest presentation of end time events, 30:33 I believe, the broad outline of end time events 30:36 that we find in the Bible. 30:38 Genesis 7 verses 22 and 23. 30:43 I'm reading from the New King James Version. 30:45 It says, "All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, 30:49 all that was on the dry land died. 30:53 So He destroyed all living things which were on the 30:56 face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing, 30:59 and bird of the air. 31:00 They were destroyed from the earth. 31:03 Only Noah and those who were with him 31:06 in the ark remained alive." 31:08 And if you read many modern versions, it says that 31:11 only Noah and his family were left. 31:15 You see, the word, "left," is a remnant word. 31:20 For example, when a flood takes away a city, 31:24 you say, "Well wasn't anyone left?" 31:28 The word, "left," has to do with a remnant. 31:32 In Greek it's the word, "loipos." 31:34 You know, the dragon makes war against the 31:38 remnant of her seed. 31:39 Who is the remnant? 31:41 They are those who are what? 31:43 Who are left or remain. 31:46 You know, go with me to 1 Thessalonians 4. 31:48 The importance, once again, of looking at other text 31:51 of Scripture, the broader context. 31:53 1 Thessalonians chapter 4... 31:58 ...and let's read beginning with verse 15. 32:01 Chapter 4 and verse 15. 32:03 "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, 32:05 that we who are alive and..." What? 32:10 "...and remain..." So who are the remaining ones? 32:14 The saved. 32:16 "...we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord 32:19 will by no means precede those who are asleep. 32:22 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven 32:23 with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, 32:26 and with the trumpet of God. 32:27 And the dead in Christ will rise first." 32:29 And so who are those who remain? 32:33 They're the righteous. 32:34 Let's finish reading verse 16. 32:36 "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven 32:38 with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, 32:40 and with the trumpet of God. 32:41 And the dead in Christ will rise first. 32:43 Then we who are alive and..." 32:45 There it is again, "...and remain," or are left, 32:48 "shall be caught up together with them in the clouds 32:50 to meet the Lord in the air. 32:51 And so shall we ever be with the Lord." 32:54 Let's notice one further text on this. 32:56 Isaiah 24. 33:00 Isaiah 24. 33:02 See, you're dealing with a remnant word here. 33:05 And you'll only know it if you go to the broader context; 33:08 the flood story. 33:09 Isaiah chapter 24. 33:15 And by the way, Isaiah 24 is describing 33:18 the second coming of Christ. 33:20 You can read all of the previous verses. 33:22 It's a vivid description of the destruction of the world 33:25 at the second coming of Jesus. 33:28 And I want you to notice what we find in verse, 33:31 actually let's read verse 3 so that you can see the context. 33:36 It says, "The land shall be utterly emptied 33:38 and utterly plundered, for the Lord has spoken this word. 33:42 The earth mourns and fades away, 33:45 the world languishes and fades away; 33:47 the haughty people of the earth languish. 33:50 The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, 33:52 because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, 33:56 broken the everlasting covenant. 33:58 Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, 34:01 and those who dwell in it are desolate. 34:03 Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, 34:06 and few men are left." 34:13 Now that's describing the second coming of Christ, 34:15 which is it clearly. 34:17 The spirit of prophecy shows it, and the context shows it. 34:20 Who would be the ones who are left? 34:23 Let me ask you, is there going to be anyone left alive 34:26 when Jesus comes here on earth? 34:30 Any of the wicked people going to be left alive on earth? 34:32 No, so who are those that, when the destruction comes 34:36 and human beings are destroyed or burned, 34:40 who are the ones that are left, the few that are left? 34:43 It has to be the righteous. 34:45 So what does the word, "left," mean? 34:49 It means the remnant. 34:51 I said this was the last passage. 34:53 Let me go to one more. 34:55 Isaiah 4, Isaiah chapter 4. 35:01 Isaiah chapter 4. 35:06 And notice verses 4 and 5. 35:12 "When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters 35:15 of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, 35:19 by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, 35:21 then the Lord will create above every dwelling place 35:25 of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, 35:27 a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a 35:29 flaming fire by night. 35:32 For over all the glory there will be a covering." 35:35 And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime 35:38 from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter 35:41 from storm and rain." 35:42 That's speaking about what God is going to do 35:43 for the righteous, right? 35:45 Now notice verses 2 and 3. 35:48 "In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be 35:51 beautiful and glorious; and the fruit of the earth shall be 35:54 excellent and appealing for those of Israel 35:58 who have..." What? "...escaped." 36:00 Because the previous verses are talking about destruction. 36:03 Verse 3, "And it shall come to pass that he who is... 36:09 ...left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem shall be called holy." 36:16 So who are the left ones? 36:18 The holy ones. 36:21 Very same word, "left," that is used in Genesis chapter 7 36:24 verse 23. 36:26 So is it important for us to take into account 36:29 the broader context to understand what a 36:31 phrase or a passage means? 36:33 It is indispensable. 36:35 Now let me go to one final point in this section. 36:39 And that is the importance of the definite article. 36:43 Do you know what a definite article is? 36:48 The house. 36:51 "The," is a definite article. 36:54 Now in Greek, in Greek you have a masculine definite article, 36:58 you have a feminine definite article, 37:00 and you have a neuter definite article. 37:03 So in Greek, you know, you can tell whether the word is 37:06 masculine, feminine, or neutral by the article. 37:11 Not so in English. 37:12 In English all you have is, "the." 37:15 So English is limited, you know. 37:17 You don't know whether "the man" is masculine or feminine 37:21 by the definite article. 37:23 But now I want to show you the importance 37:24 of the definite article. 37:26 Go with me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, which we were 37:31 looking at a little while ago. 37:33 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 11. 37:36 We've already discussed the word, "parousia," 37:39 which is a very important word, but now let's notice verse 11. 37:47 Speaking about those who don't embrace the truth, 37:49 "they did not receive the love of the truth, 37:51 that they might be saved. 37:53 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion..." 37:58 It's not that God sends them the delusion, but God allows them 38:00 to be deluded. 38:02 Because in the Bible what God allows, the Bible speaks 38:05 as if God did it. 38:07 But it's indirectly, because God is allowing it. 38:11 So it says, "...God will send them strong delusion, 38:13 that they should believe... 38:17 ...the lie." 38:21 The King James says, "a lie," I think, right? 38:25 But in Greek, it says, "the lie." 38:29 The question is, in context, which lie? 38:33 The counterfeit second coming. 38:37 Is that the lie that the immediate context 38:39 speaks about? 38:41 The almost overmastering delusion whose coming, 38:44 whose parousia, is according to the working of Satan, 38:47 according to the context. 38:49 And those who do not receive the love of the truth, 38:52 they will believe what? 38:54 They will believe, not a lie, any old lie. 38:58 They will believe "the" lie. 39:01 In other words, they will accept this counterfeit 39:03 second coming of Christ. 39:04 And folks, let me say this... 39:06 There were a few of you that were in church on Sabbath, 39:09 and I'm going to go over that material here in class 39:11 when we discuss the different methods of interpreting 39:14 prophecy; preterism, futurism, and historicism. 39:17 But is it important for us to know how Jesus will come? 39:23 It is vitally important. 39:25 You know, once somebody said to me, 39:27 "I don't really care, you know, how He's coming. 39:29 I only care that He's coming." 39:32 Well the fact is, if you don't know how He's coming, 39:35 you're going to accept the wrong who. 39:39 It's that simple. 39:41 And there's a way in which we can know whether it's the 39:43 true Christ or not the true Christ, 39:45 and it's only based on Scripture. 39:48 It's not based on your feelings, your emotions, 39:50 your eyes, your ears, your touch. 39:52 None of those things. 39:55 It's whether you're firmly grounded 39:56 and founded upon Scripture. 39:58 So is it important to take into account all of these things? 40:01 See, Bible study is a taxing experience. 40:07 You know, you have to study all of these things. 40:08 You say, "How can I study all these things? 40:10 I don't know the original language." 40:11 You don't have to know the original languages anymore. 40:15 There's software that presents it all to you in English. 40:20 Or in Spanish, and I assume in Portuguese, I'm sure. 40:25 Because there's millions and millions of people 40:28 who speak Portuguese. 40:30 And so folks, what we need to do is we need to do our homework. 40:35 We need to look at all of these things. 40:37 We need to look at the historical background, 40:40 we need to look at the tenses of the verbs, 40:42 we need to, you know, look at when there's 40:45 an apparent contradiction. 40:46 Maybe it has to do with the particular case 40:48 that is involved. 40:50 We need to look at the structure of the passage, 40:53 and we'll study more about that. 40:54 We need to look at the meaning of words. 40:56 We need to look at the immediate and the broader context. 41:00 We need to look at what the article is. 41:02 I mean, we need to exhaust every means possible 41:06 to study all the details about the passage. 41:10 So it's not enough just to pray. 41:13 We pray and then we work. 41:17 You know, Ellen White says that those who do nothing but pray 41:20 will eventually stop praying. 41:24 And I believe in prayer. 41:26 But I also believe in hard work. 41:28 I believe that you have to pray and then you have to sweat. 41:31 And it takes a lot of work to sit down and study Scripture. 41:34 And the more you do it, the easier it will become. 41:38 You know, at first you say, "Well, all of these things, 41:42 you know, how am I going to do all of this?" 41:44 You know, as you practice it, it'll become second nature. 41:48 It'll become natural. 41:50 Okay, now let's go to principle... 41:52 Is this okay? 41:53 So far so good? 41:55 Okay, so now let's go to principle number four. 41:58 We're on a roll. 42:00 Principle number four, the Bible is its own interpreter. 42:09 That's why it's called, sola scriptura. 42:13 The Bible alone. 42:15 Now let's go through this principle. 42:18 The Bible is an organic whole and is spiritual unity. 42:25 And as such, it is its own interpreter. 42:30 The Holy Spirit has placed within the Bible 42:35 everything that we need in order to correctly interpret 42:39 every single verse of the Bible. 42:43 We don't need any external source to interpret the Bible. 42:46 The Holy Spirit has placed within Scripture 42:49 the key to interpret every verse. 42:53 The Holy Spirit supervised the composition of Scripture. 42:59 Do we have all the books in the Bible that the Holy Spirit 43:01 wanted us to have? 43:03 Yes. 43:04 He not only supervised the giving of Scripture, 43:06 but the forming of the canon of Scripture. 43:11 And the Holy Spirit, because He superintended the composition 43:15 of Scripture, has placed within it everything we need 43:19 to explain every single part. 43:22 We must be aware of dissecting Scripture 43:25 like the liberal scholars who use what is known as the 43:29 historical critical method. 43:33 This method is the method of doubt. 43:37 In other words, nothing in Scripture is 43:38 accepted at face value. 43:42 They say, "Oh, can you really trust this, can you trust that? 43:45 Well have they ever seen anybody raised from the dead today? 43:48 Well, well, how can we believe that happened back then 43:51 if it's not happening today?" 43:52 It's a method of doubting Scripture 43:55 and dissecting Scripture. 43:58 This method does not allow one part of the Bible 44:00 to explain other parts. 44:03 In other words, the unity of Scripture is denied. 44:05 They say that each author, you know, presented 44:07 his perspective and there's contradictions 44:10 between one and the other. 44:11 The Bible is just one big collection of human opinions. 44:14 And so they dissect and say, 44:16 this is inspired and this isn't inspired. 44:18 We can't go down that road. 44:21 For example, its advocates believe that the Pentateuch, 44:25 that's the five books of Moses, 44:28 was written by four different authors. 44:31 JEDP; I won't get into that. 44:34 And none of those authors was Moses. 44:38 And incidentally, we're not talking here about pagans. 44:43 We're talking about theologians from the mainline churches 44:46 and the Roman Catholic Church. 44:47 They use this method. 44:49 Most scholars today don't believe that Moses wrote 44:52 anything that's in the five books of Moses. 44:57 They also dissect the New Testament, trying to 45:00 determine what is reliable and what isn't reliable. 45:04 For example, they see a contradiction between 45:07 the account of the death of Judas in the gospels 45:09 and the book of acts. 45:12 Have you ever read the account of the death 45:14 of Judas in the gospels? 45:15 It says that he went and hung himself. 45:18 But in Acts it says he fell a long distance 45:21 and his stomach exploded and his innards came out. 45:25 So they say, "See, you have a case here of 45:27 two different authors..." 45:29 By the way, Matthew didn't write "Matthew" according to them. 45:33 And Luke probably just didn't get it right. 45:38 That's the way Scripture is treated today 45:41 in the religious world in liberal Protestantism. 45:48 Ellen White presents a beautiful harmony between the two stories, 45:51 as she usually does. 45:53 She says that Judas went to where there was a dead tree 46:01 and he put the rope over one of the high branches of the tree 46:05 to hang himself. 46:07 And he was so heavy, because Ellen White said he was 46:09 the tallest of the apostles, and when he jumped off 46:16 the limb to hang himself, the branch broke. 46:20 And he fell a long distance to the ground, 46:23 and his belly exploded, and his innards came out. 46:27 So is the gospel account in contradiction to 46:30 the account in the book of Acts? 46:32 No. 46:33 He did commit suicide. 46:35 He just didn't expect the branch to break 46:39 and to die that way. 46:41 So what they do is they dichotomize Scripture. 46:45 They say you can't trust this and you can't trust this, 46:49 because these are individual accounts by these 46:51 individuals in different times. 46:53 They don't believe that the Holy Spirit superintended 46:56 the composition of Scripture. 46:59 Now, conservative evangelical scholars who expound 47:03 Bible prophecy are also guilty of dissecting Scripture. 47:08 Dispensationalists... 47:09 Have you ever heard of dispensationalists? 47:12 Dispensationalists radically dichotomize 47:15 the Old and New Testaments. 47:17 They say the Old Testament was by law 47:19 and the New Testament is by grace. 47:22 That's the evangelical position. 47:24 Old Testament; law. New testament; grace. 47:26 Although in the evangelical world, many scholars are 47:28 starting to change their view. 47:30 They're starting to say that the Old Testament had law 47:33 and grace, and the New Testament has law and grace. 47:37 So the scholarly world is shifting somewhat on that. 47:41 But basically, they say that God has two mutually 47:44 exclusive plans for Israel and the church. 47:47 And we'll have a lot more to say about this. 47:49 They say that God had one plan for Israel 47:52 and He has another plan for the Christian church. 47:56 And some of them even say that God has a heavenly destiny 47:59 for one and He has an earthly destiny for the other. 48:04 And they say that now God, "We're in the church age, 48:06 God is dealing with the church. 48:08 But at the rapture He's going to take the church away 48:10 and then His plan will kick in for the Jews. 48:13 Because God has two mutually separate peoples." 48:18 And this is the great counterfeit that makes it 48:21 so difficult for people to accept Adventism. 48:25 And we're going to have room to discuss this. 48:27 We're going to take two whole sessions 48:29 to discuss the schools of interpretation 48:31 and the serious implications that are involved in accepting 48:36 any one of these interpretations. 48:40 In Selected Messages, volume 1, page 42, 48:44 Ellen White wrote, "When a man feels so very wise that 48:47 he dares to dissect God's Word, his wisdom is, with God, 48:52 counted foolishness." 48:56 In the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, 48:58 volume 7, page 919, she says, "Do not let any living man 49:02 come to you and begin to dissect God's Word, 49:06 telling what is revelation, what is inspiration, 49:09 what is not, without rebuke. 49:12 Tell all such that they simply do not know. 49:16 They simply are not able to comprehend the things of the 49:19 mystery of God. 49:21 What we want is to inspire faith. 49:25 We want no one to say, 'This I will reject, 49:28 and this will I receive,' but we want to have implicit faith 49:33 in the Bible as a whole and as it is." 49:40 Praise the Lord for that. 49:42 We need to take the Bible as it reads. 49:44 And you know, even in the Adventist church these days. 49:46 If I might just mention for a couple of moments here 49:49 a controversial issue. 49:51 You know, the issue of roles of men and women in the church. 49:55 You know, there are those in our midst that are saying, 49:57 you know, you can't really take Paul's interpretation 50:02 of Genesis as authoritative. 50:05 You know, where Genesis very clearly has, you know, 50:10 the position that God established originally 50:13 that man is the head and the woman is suppose to accept 50:16 the lead of the man. 50:18 And the apostle Paul confirms that. 50:20 The apostle Paul says, 50:21 "Listen, I do not allow the woman to teach..." 50:23 And that's not talking about teaching Sabbath School lessons. 50:25 That's teaching with full ecclesiastical authority. 50:29 "...to teach or to have authority over the men." 50:31 He says, because man was created first and then woman. 50:35 And woman was created for man, not man for woman. 50:39 In other words, the apostle Paul explains what Genesis means. 50:45 But what they're saying is, "You know, we really can't 50:48 take Paul's interpretation of what Genesis says." 50:52 What they're doing is they're severing Scripture. 50:56 They're pitting Paul against Moses. 50:59 When really you have to take Paul's assessment 51:04 and interpretation as authoritating 51:07 as what we find in Genesis. 51:09 Because Paul was inspired by the same Spirit 51:12 that inspired Moses. 51:15 You cannot say, "I like this, but I don't like that." 51:19 It's either the whole of Scripture or nothing. 51:22 Because eventually if you start nitpicking with this text 51:25 and the other, you will end up believing in nothing. 51:28 As has happened with many biblical scholars. 51:32 Now, how can we find connections between biblical texts? 51:38 Well, let's take a couple of examples. 51:42 I have several here. 51:43 But let's take for example the first one. 51:46 Revelation 6 and verse 17, Revelation 6 and verse 17. 51:53 And incidentally, what's of great value here 51:57 in finding how text relate to each other is get a good 52:01 Bible concordance and check out the marginal references. 52:05 Get a Bible with marginal references that have a little 52:08 letter that show you other verses relating to the 52:11 verse that you're studying. 52:12 So notice Revelation 6 and verse 17. 52:17 Every interesting question. 52:18 It's the culmination of the second coming of Christ. 52:21 The previous verses speak of the second coming. 52:24 So it says, "For the great day of His wrath is come, 52:30 and who is able to stand?" 52:34 Interesting question. 52:36 The great day of His wrath is come, 52:38 who shall be able to stand? 52:39 Well, if you have a marginal reference, 52:42 or you have a concordance, you'll find some other verses 52:45 that are very valuable in understanding this verse 52:48 and that will tell you who will be able to stand. 52:51 Let's go to Psalm 24. 52:53 And I hope you'll look up all these verses. 52:56 There's a, there's a... 52:58 In every verse here there's something to be found. 53:02 Notice Psalm 24 and verses 3 through 6. 53:07 Psalm 24 verses 3 through 6. 53:09 You see, in Revelation chapter 6 it doesn't tell you 53:13 who's going to be able to stand 53:14 and what their character is like. 53:16 Unless you go to the next chapter where it speaks of the 53:19 sealing of the 144,000. 53:20 And there it doesn't even tell you the character they have. 53:23 It simply tells you that they're being sealed. 53:25 You have to go to Revelation 14:1-5 53:27 to know what their character is going to be like. 53:30 What is the character going to be like of those who say, 53:32 "Who shall be able to stand?" 53:35 Notice chapter 24 of Psalm verses 3 through 6. 53:40 "Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? 53:46 Or who may stand in His holy place? 53:51 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, 53:54 who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, 53:56 nor sworn deceitfully. 53:58 He shall receive blessing from the Lord, 54:01 and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 54:04 This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, 54:08 who seek Your face." 54:11 It tells you something about their character. 54:12 It asks the same question. 54:14 Notice also Isaiah 33 and verses 12 through 16. 54:20 Isaiah 33 and verses 12 through 16. 54:23 You know who's going to live in the midst of the flames 54:25 of hell eternally? 54:30 You know, the churches out there, they say, 54:32 "Oh, the wicked are going to burn in hell forever." 54:35 But the Bible teaches that it's the righteous that are going to 54:37 live in the fires. 54:41 They've got it the wrong way around. 54:45 "Say what, the Bible says that the righteous 54:47 will live in the midst of the fire?" 54:49 Incidentally, the fire is God's glory. 54:51 You're going to have a handout that 54:53 deals with the issue of hell. 54:54 We're going to take a look at what the Bible 54:55 has to say about that. 54:57 But there are multiple text that show that 54:59 the fire is God's glory. 55:03 It's so glorious that when God's people are standing on the 55:06 sea of glass, it looks like it's mingled with fire. 55:09 Because Ellen White says that the glory of God 55:11 shines on the water. 55:15 Wow. 55:17 Isaiah 33 and verse 12. 55:22 "'And the people shall be like the burnings of lime; 55:25 like thorns cut up they shall be burned in the fire. 55:28 Hear, you who are afar off, what I have done; 55:32 and you who are near, acknowledge My might.' 55:34 The sinners in Zion are afraid; 55:37 fearfulness has seized the hypocrites." 55:39 And now comes the question. 55:41 "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?" 55:45 Is that related to what we read in Revelation 6? 55:48 Yes. 55:49 "Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" 55:52 Now here comes the surprising answer. 55:54 "He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, 55:59 he who despises the gain of oppressions, 56:01 who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes, 56:03 who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, 56:07 and shuts his eyes from seeing evil." 56:10 Does it tell us about the character of those 56:12 who will be able to stand? 56:14 See, if you're only in Revelation 6 56:16 you don't have the whole picture. 56:17 You have to use the marginal references or your concordance. 56:20 Look up the word, "stand," and that will give you 56:24 several text to look up. 56:25 One more before we bring this to an end. 56:28 Joel chapter 2 and verse 11. 56:32 The previous verses are describing 56:34 the second coming of Christ. 56:36 And I want you to notice the question that is asked. 56:39 Joel chapter 2 and verse 11. 56:42 After describing the second coming, it says, 56:45 "The Lord gives voice before His army, 56:48 for His camp is very great; 56:50 for strong is the One who executes His word. 56:53 For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; 56:56 and who can endure it?" 57:00 Now if you read the following verses, you're going to 57:02 find a description of the Day of Atonement. 57:06 You're going to find what preparation is necessary 57:09 to be able to stand. 57:11 In verse 12 through verse 17 it speaks about the 57:15 Day of Atonement; fasting afflicting the soul, 57:19 gathering around the Sanctuary so to speak, 57:23 so that you can be able to stand in the last day. 57:25 So does it help us to go to a concordance and 57:29 marginal references and look up all of these 57:32 additional passages? 57:34 Does it help us understand Revelation 6 verse 17? 57:37 It most certainly does. 57:38 The Bible is its own interpreter. 57:42 The Holy Spirit placed everything we need 57:44 to understand every single verse. |
Revised 2015-01-07